My Magical Visit to the Dentist

Wow, you’re getting two blog updates in one day. Don’t you feel special? I wanted to separate this post from the previous one since this particular post will contain information of a quasi-educational nature. I didn’t want information about my social life to interfere with this educational experience.

Way back in May (a full two weeks ago), I went to the dentist for the first time in a good five years. Even in the early stages, the pain and hypersensitivity from the RSD made it hard for me to simply brush my teeth. Once I was in the wheelchair, going to the dentist became impossible.

Here’s a fun fact: RSD actually decreases the blood flow to your teeth. Over time, decreased blood flow can cause your teeth to weaken. (Sounds pleasant, right?)

Keeping all of this in mind, I was prepared to hear the worst from my dentist. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he told me that all of my teeth needed to be pulled and that the only way I’d ever eat corn on the cob again was if I cut it off the cob and mashed it into a fine paste. Surprisingly, the prognosis wasn’t that bad. All of my teeth have decalcified, which weakened the enamel. In three spots, the enamel is so thin that it’s worn away to the dentin and will need to be filled. I need to brush with fluoride toothpaste each night to help strengthen the enamel. I’ll also need a good cleaning and, as previously mentioned, three small fillings.

Now, here comes the tricky part. When teeth are filled, they are also drilled. The act of drilling can easily hit a nerve, which can very easily trigger RSD. Thus, Ketamine needs to be used when performing invasive dental work on RSD patients. My dentist will need to talk to Dr. Schwartzman to decide the best plan of action. Since Ketamine makes me vomit with the projectile power of an angry llama, this should be interesting.

Am I the only one picturing a comical scene involving me, the dentist, and an amazingly intricate splatter guard? I sure hope not.

Everyone Wants to Visit My 'Hood

Wow, it’s almost summer. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m looking forward to sun, fun and having my thighs stick painfully to vinyl seats.

It’s been over a year since I woke up from my Ketamine coma in Germany. So far, I’m still pain-free and doing well. A year is an important milestone after the coma, so this is a good sign. In fact, I haven’t needed a booster since January.

Brandy and Elizabeth came in for their infusions back in May. As is the custom ‘round theses here parts, we had dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse. The food was tasty, the conversation was stimulating, and the company was pleasant. Both Brandy and Elizabeth had finished up their infusions a few hours before dinner, so they got to sport very fashionable IV-protecting gloves. The fashion statement was a little Michael Jackson and a little Beyonce a la “Single Ladies.”

Earlier this month (we’re already a whole week into June, you know), I got to see Ralph. He’s the wonderful German individual who helped my family while we were in Germany.

He was on his way to Cleveland and had a layover in Philadelphia. After he cleared all of the security barriers, we met up and presented him with regional delicacies (soft pretzels, butterscotch krimpets, kandykakes and peanut chews.) After some overpriced soda in the overpriced airport hotel lounge, we walked him to his connecting flight. (By “walked” I mean, “those with longer legs walked swiftly.” Me and my short legs had to practically jog.) It was great to see him again.

On a side note, I would like the Marriott to kindly refund at least half of what they charged me for my Coke. (Blog product placement; someone pay me!) It’s just sugar, water, and caramel coloring. What am I paying for, the luxury of freezing my butt off from their overpowered air conditioner? (I know the answer is “yes.” I can still rant against The Man.)

To 2009 and Beyond!

I hope that everyone had a happy nondenominational winter holiday and is enjoying 2009. Mine has been pretty uneventful so far, but I guess that’s a good thing.

I met up with three other RSD families who have been to Germany since I last posted. Brandy Sachs and Elizabeth Weiss came to Philly for boosters back in December. I believe that Brandy’s dad posted about our meeting on her blog, but I prefer to be fashionably late. We ate dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse and then proceeded to talk for five hours. The restaurant was just about ready to close with us inside.

Kyle Kendrix was here this month for boosters as well. Once again, dinner at the Warehouse, followed by talking. It’s our thing, don’t knock it.

Speaking of boosters, I had my last set on January 22nd and 23rd, right next to Kyle. We would have chatted, but they don’t let you talk during the infusion. I was also too busy watching the walls move and feeling nauseous.

As previously stated, this was my last booster unless I feel any pain coming back. From now on, I just need to see Dr. Schwartzman once a year for a check-up. I’m excited and hope that I stay in remission for a really long time. (I figure that somewhere between forever and eternity should work well.) I can now begin to actually do something with my life and be a productive member of society. Be afraid.

I’m really grateful to both Dr. Schwartzman and all of the doctors and nurses in Germany, especially Dr. Rohr, for all of their hard work. They saved my life and my sanity. While everything I went through was dangerous to a degree, it’s a carefully measured risk that’s backed by a lot of trial and scientific evidence. Besides, most RSD patients will agree that anything is better than living in pain. So, if anyone sees them, give them a hug. These are good, hard working and brilliant individuals.

Valentine’s Day is coming up. Not my favorite holiday. It’s become a gaudy, commercialized nightmare perpetuated by the media and greeting card conglomerations. Saint Valentine isn’t even a saint anymore, he was demoted. Refuse to siphon more money into corrupt corporations by not buying anything... unless it’s those white conversation hearts. (Those are the good ones.) Or the dark chocolates with strawberry cream in the them. Actually, I’m voting to rename the holiday “Sit On Your Butt and Stuff Your Face with Candy Day.” That’s a holiday that I’ll support.

The Great Northern Adventure

An alternate title for this blog entry is, “So Did You Hear the One Where I Was in an MRI Machine for Two Hours Having My Brain Studied for Science?” However, though this is perhaps a more accurate description of my brief jaunt to Boston, it’s rather long and doesn’t fit in the space provided by Blogger. As such, you get something more obscure, though rather Jack London-esque.

In case you can’t tell by now, I recently made a short trip up to Boston so that I could have a functional MRI of my brain performed as part of research on the effects of pain. If you are a faithful AlessaBlog(tm) reader, you’ll know that I had the same type of study performed on my way to Germany, previous to being placed into a Ketamine coma. That was considered the “before” MRI, and I was in a great deal of discomfort (to put it mildly) at the time. There should be a marked difference between the "before" and “after” MRI that I just had done, now that I’m in remission and felt no pain from the whole experience.

For the first portion of the study, I laid inside of an MRI machine for a while and unsuccessfully tried to fight off boredom by staring at the very low and rather beige ceiling of the tube while trying really hard not to fall asleep. In the second portion, a small metal pad was placed on the top of my hand. This provided hot and cold stimuli* to my skin which was raised and lowered over a period of several minutes. While this was happening, I had to rate my discomfort using a small dial. (Still not that exciting.) Later, the table of the machine that I was laying on was vibrated to provide further stimuli to my body. (STILL not exciting, though mildly entertaining in a vertigo-inducing manner.)

*The exact temperature of the hot and cold stimuli was determined before the test, based upon how warm or cool the pad could get before I clicked a button to note my discomfort.


I hope that everyone had a Happy Halloween, and that you’ll have a delicious Thanksgiving. Remember: rolls are just empty starch that take up valuable room that can be used for pie instead. It’s all about the pie.

Beer and Candy... Mmm... Candy...

Hey everyone, I’m finally updating again. October has been a busy month, though luckily not much of it was RSD related. Most importantly, I turned 22, which means that I am now firmly solidified in my twenties. It also means that people can stop going, “Oh, so you’re JUST legal!”, when I get carded while buying a drink.

I had my first visit with my family doctor since coming back from Germany. Oh, how I HAVEN’T missed sitting around in doctor’s waiting room reading outdated magazines. Still, it was nice to only need a routine check-up. Everything appears to still be working properly, so that’s always good news.

This month was also time for another Ketamine infusion with Dr. Schwartzman. It’s been three months since my last booster, and I still haven’t had any pain return. (I do get an occasional feeling of discomfort in my right knee, but I think this is due to walking on it for the first time in three years.) Having gone six months with no pain, I’m officially in remission from my RSD. Most of my major restrictions have been lifted, and I can slowly begin to phase back into normal life. (This obviously assumes that I was normal to begin with.) I’ll never be able to do some things like ride a bike or play tackle football, but for the most part I’m good to go.

One side effect of not having received Ketamine in so long is that the infusion hit me a little harder than usual and really wiped me for about a week. It was especially hard since I had been feeling really good and fairly energetic beforehand. I’m feeling better now, just in time for Halloween!

I went to the optometrist for the first time in three years. While I’m still ridiculously nearsighted without my glasses or contacts, my prescription didn’t change much. That means that my eyes weren’t horribly affected by either the RSD or the Ketamine. Both very good things, seeing as how I’m myopic enough as it is. Still a good excuse for pretty new frames.

That seems to be it for this entry. Have a Happy Halloween! Best holiday of the year if you ask me. You get to dress up, eat candy, scare small children and bother your neighbors. Legally. Can you beat that? I think not.

This Update Delayed by Nerdiness

I know, I know. It's been a while since my last entry, but I have been blissfully busy with something vaguely resembling a life. Scary, isn't it? I have stayed pain-free this entire time, which feels really amazing. Since I last updated, I've had another Ketamine booster from Dr. Schwartzman. This should be my last one until October, which is a great feeling as well.

For those of you who aren't cool kids in the know, Ketamine boosters are administered through an IV. It's actually an outpatient infusion that lasts for four hours a day and goes on for two days. Luckily, they keep the IV in for when you go home the first day so that you don't have to experience the sheer joy of being stuck with a needle at least twice in as many days. Most people sleep during their infusion, but I was pumped so full of Ketamine in Germany that I stay awake.

I also went for a "well" visit with my pain management doctor. It made my mom extraordinarily happy to watch me put all zeros for my pain scale. It made me extraordinarily happy to know that this would hopefully be my last appointment with him in the history of forever. Naturally, he was thrilled to see how well I was doing, and told me that he hopes he never has to see me again, unless we bumped into each other on the street or something. This is actually the first time that he has ever seen me standing. Apparently, I'm still short.

What else have I been doing with my life? The word "nerd" comes to mind, but I don't think that it's quite strong enough... How about, "NERD!!!"? Yeah, I'm okay with that. I have good friends, and we have fun times, so I actually take pride in my nerd-dom. Well, I'm off for now. Not to bed, though, as sleeping at night is for the normal, which I am obviously not.

First Transmission

Hi everybody, this is Alessa speaking. Literally. My mom was updating the blog while we were in Germany, but since the ketamine coma, I have been pain-free and am now able to keep you updated on me by myself. I am, however, using a speech to text program since I'm not allowed to type yet. So now I just get to talk to myself.

As already mentioned, the ketamine coma left me pain-free and able to walk, both of which have vastly improved my quality of life while sitting in front of the computer. In all honesty, I am out and about and getting waffles at 11 p.m. with friends. In other words, I am almost verging on normal.

Since being back in Philadelphia, I have already gone for two ketamine boosters at Dr. Schwartzman's office. I'll be going for my third tomorrow. It will have been a month, which is the longest I have gone without one, and still no pain which is a very good sign.

For now, I'll just be taking it easy and experiencing the joy of not being allowed to go to school or get a job. It's hard work, but somehow I'll manage. Wish me luck!